The most psychedllic Paul, perhaps (I could be forgetting something), is the execution of his idea for how the orechestra climbs up to his section of "Day In The Life."
George hits the mark early on with I Want To Tell You from Revolver. I read an interview where George talked about drugs while writing It's All Too Much. Also think that Baby You're A Rich Man is very much a track that fits in with the summer of love.
I want to tell you... Paul in an interview said it was best song on Revolver. And it was really Paul's album... but Paul was right... best George song up to that point, and my fave off the album
Psychedelic music is pretty broad area to explore. Matt's criteria define it well though. Psychedelic music can be drug induced or just simply expanded awareness and spiritual consciousness. In my humble opinion, Lennon wins easily with "Daytripper" "Rain" "Tomorrow Never Knows", "She Said, She Said", "And Your Bird Can Sing", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "A Day in the Life", "Lucy in the Sky", "I am the Walrus", and "Across the Universe." "Mind Games" and "#9 Dream" are pretty trippy too.
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" has always been my most definitive Beatles psychedelic song. Thanks for yet another entertaining presentation Matt - also great to hear that Paul's original iconic Hofner Bass has been confirmed found!
FIXING A HOLE BEING A HEROIN NEEDLE? WHUT? I quote from Wikipedia: Some fans assumed the song was about heroin due to the drug slang "fixing a hole,"[6] but McCartney later said that the song was an "ode to pot".[7] In his 1997 biography Many Years from Now, McCartney stated that "mending was my meaning. Wanting to be free enough to let my mind wander, let myself be artistic, let myself not sneer at avant-garde things."[6]
I always interpreted the song being about death and the need to always have something to fill the hole within yourself, that he’s trying to stop his kind form wandering to negative thinking and the bad aspects of life but that’s just what I always felt.
I think of many of Paul’s songs in this period as being more ‘psychedelic adjacent’ than outright psychedelic. His songs still fit the overall vibe but are just not as overt much of the time. And he does contribute a lot of creative psychedelic touches to many songs by John and George. He seemed more confident adding cool druggy elements to some of his bandmate’s songs than to his own.
What’s notable to me is that while Paul’s songs are fairly light on psychedelia, he contributed a lot of of psychedelic elements to the other Beatles’ tunes (tape loops, guitar solos, etc.).
He’s also largely credited with conceiving the overall concepts/themes for Sgt. Pepper’s and Magical Mystery Tour, arguably their two most psychedelic albums. Despite being less into the psychedelic counter-culture than his bandmates, Paul seemed to “get it” and enjoyed setting up John and George for some real psychedelic flourishes. Same with George Martin.
@@austinwilkerson84 It's funny because Paul went to check out San Francisco first and thought the culture and consciousness were pretty cool. George went later that year and hated it and got off drugs.
As a kid in the 70s my introduction to the Beatles was when I borrowed my older sister’s copy of Sgt Pepper and played it to death. I’m pretty sure the lads didn’t have nine year old children in mind when making that album, but I was enthralled with the sounds and lyrical imagery. For my next birthday (10th) my parents got me Magical Mystery Tour which is equally if not more trippy than Sgt Pepper. So I’ve always had a sentimental soft spot for the Beatles’ psychedelic period because it takes me back to my childhood.
In my personal opinion, the Sgt. Pepper album has never been equaled or surpassed. It's the aural definition of what a masterpiece 'work of art' is and forever will be. It 'broke the mold,' kind of like Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon changed the so-called 'art world' forever.
As always, Matt, you are reasoned, intensely specific, and analytical, as one should be in discussing any topic. You define, and you explain. Perfect, Matt.
The book Riding High (recommended by Matt!) gives a good insight to Beatles drug exploration. Lennon and Harrison did the most acid and incorporated acid into their writing. Paul was hesitant and never really explored acid deeply. All of them were heavy into weed; pretty much all the time after Dylan introduced them. Only Lennon got into heroin (after Sgt. Pepper) but he never injected. Psychedelic music is mostly associated with acid and mushrooms- and weed. Opiates were not seen to be trip inducing.
to me all Beatles music from 1965 onwards feels psychadelic. Even their early solo music from 1970 and 1971 still has traces of that surreal magic realism vibe that hypnotizes me. I loved number 9 when I heard it for the first time in 1994 when I was 21 years old. I was also in 60s Hitchcock movies and shows like the avengers with Steed and Emma Peel and the first Star Trek show at that time so number 9 was exactly what I was looking for in art. Only later I started to appreciate music for its purely musical qualities like melody, riffs or harmony. But at that time it was all about the surreal atmopsphere.
For me, their psychedelic period fall strictly in their middle era, including Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine. With the White Album, they switch gears entirely and start mining the more rootsey direction pioneered by the Band and Music From Big Pink. The top examples for me are Rain, Strawberry Fields, I am the Walrus, Tomorrow Never Knows, Northern Song, It's All too Much and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. George's sitar excursions and John's more dreamy offerings like Day in a Life also qualify.
There are still remnants of psych on The White Album, although it's a different kind of psychedelia than what they had explored in 66-67. "Dear Prudence", "Glass Onion", "Helter Skelter", "Revolution 1", "Cry Baby Cry", and "Revolution 9" are all trippy to some degree, and some of the outtakes like take 20 of "Revolution 1" and "What's The New Mary Jane" are some of the most far-out recordings they ever made.
Yes, he seemed to think that the lyrics had nothing to do with expanded consciousness but that was *precisely* the subject matter of the song--the wise, enlightened man who looks like a fool to everyone else. Maybe the lyrics move beyond drugs, but it's certainly about expanded consciousness in general.
@@hanspecans Prabhupada turned out to be a lot more of a sexist, homophobic asshole than the Maharishi! The Maharishi got a little weird toward the end of his life, but his TM technique has helped millions. People call him a "fool" without actually presenting any evidence for that fact. If you're going to call him that, at least provide an example.
@@hanspecans Interesting...you are literally one of the people calling the wise man a fool in the song! And don't even realize it. Prabhupada, btw, turned out to be quite sexist and homophobic. Something the Maharishi doesn't have on his record.
By the late sixties, "psychedelic" had become highly commercial. A lot of tunes were what I call "faux-psychedelic". A great example is "Just Dropped in to see what Condition my condition was in" which seems totally calculated and contrived to evoke psychedelia - the lyrics even reference Eight Miles High! Brilliantly used by the fearless Coen Brothers in The Big Lebowski.
Absolutely right. The mainstream "absorbed" all of the trappings of the hippie movement and cashed in. I knew that the wheels had come off the bus when my dad bought a suit with bell bottom pants. Bad trip.@@popgoesthe60s52
I recently watched the Beatles cartoon where "Tomorrow Never Knows" is featured. This was a Saturday morning cartoon back in the day for kids! The cartoon has the Beatles falling down a hole into some kind of ancient culture. I found Matt's video very interesting. I would like to see Matt apply this to other major bands of the 1960s to find the most psychedelic song in their discographies. A couple of examples come to mind, "King Midas in Reverse" by the Hollies and "Armenia City in the Sky" by the Who. Both of those would make the high range - maybe.
This was an exercise to demonstrate how the criteria works when weighted values are applied, so there was no need to show too many of the obvious tracks. I'd like to create a survey so everyone can rank them, which I think would be fun.
"Tomorrow Never Knows" vs. "Within Without You"...which is more psychedelic? I'm sure "Within Without You" is about George's embrace of Eastern mysticism and not drugs, but the sound, to me anyway, is psychedelic. I really like your criteria and agree with it. I got a kick out of "non-psychedlic bands" that would throw in some dreamy sounds to fit the genre back in the late '60's & early '70's. Because I liked The Buckinghams- (definitely not a psychedelic band) I wondered why there was a break of backwards tape used in their hit "Susan" and read that the producer just didn't know what else to use. I really enjoyed the psychedelic era of music as a teenager. Good stuff & appreciate the work you did on this one, Matt. Interesting.
Nice video. Folks like music, not everyone can wax poetic or philosophical. We love music. Love this channel. Matt, you explain things very well for many of us. Thank you and continued success to your channel.
Taxman always reminds me of Steppenwolf - Sookie Sookie. my Paul favorite is Hello Goodbye which to me has that poppy Psyche sound like Cowsills - Flower Girl tune. Ringos drum pattern on Tomorrow Never Knows was Big influence for Ian Paice drumming on The Mule which he just added to what Ringo played. Only A Northern Song, Within You Without You etc and many others would qualify on your chart. Tx Matt
Love this Matt, def one of your best!I sometimes attempted similar systemisation in the Music History course I ran, though not with numerical values.If I get the chance to teach it again I will use this system and credit you of course! It also works for judging the psychedelicness in genres other than 60's Rock/pop too.
About as good of a way to try and assess this as I could ever think of and I am in agreement with the findings. I know you were just dying to hear that so you could feel good finally about all the effort. LOL! Great stuff...always great stuff, Matt!
Hey Bill! Some people are "shocked" by some of the results, which just exposes the bias they bring to the discussion. Thank you for the compliment, but I wouldn't say that its perfect. I may tweak it a bit for more clarity.
Fair point. From the standpoint of methodology (speaking as a retired marketer), it's often helpful to have a few outliers as reference points in a survey, and that's how I'd describe "Happiness" in this instance. Definitely points, though, to the opportunity for Matt to do another vid or two on this with other Beatles songs.
The reason I chose _Happiness_ or _Taxman_ was to show how the criteria works when weighted values are applied. This was not an exercise to demonstrate "what the most psychedelic Beatles songs are." You can apply the criteria to any number of songs yourself, if you'd like.
Agreed, Happiness is a song about Junk, not Acid. Psychedelic has nothing to do with smack, despite its prevalence. Speed, that's another story, but that's a different genre, too.
There's this guy whose name escapes me-- he compiled a ton of compilation albums on psychedelia which I downloaded before he got his with copyright issues. He started off feeling that the Beatles were mainstream versions of "real" psychedelia but when compiling the albums and looking at the timeline, he says he discovered that actually, John Lennon invented "Intellectual Psychedelia." He had felt like John was aping Syd or whomever, but the Beatles created a lot of what others followed in the path of in terms of psychedelia even though they were such a commercial band. I was a kid back then, and all Saturday Morning cartoons went psychedelic when the Beatles did, and they stayed that way after the Beatles went onto other things.
I once read somewhere that John & Paul admired how Bob Dylan's poetic lyrics could affect the human psyche and in their own work took this to a more druggie level combined with music that went beyond folk motif structures.
Hi Matt, always felt "Baby, You're A Rich Man" was a psychedelic song due to the trippy sound. It was the first Beatles song recorded and mixed for release outside of Abbey Road. Six hours total is all it took, amazing! The Beatles could work fast when they wanted to. Cheers!
Great video. The Beatles psychedelic period is my favorite from them. Your system of ranking how psychedelic a song is quite interesting. I hope you make more videos like this. Im wondering how you would rank Elvis’ ‘Edge of Reality’ as a psychedelic song.
I would rank 'Penny Lane' as one of Paul's most psychedelic songs. Although whimsical, it does contain stream of consciousness imagery. Paul is a very sentimental person and this is illustrated in this song. He also depicted Northern English Brass Band music in his psychedelic songs which is also a nostalgic element and a throwback to an earlier idealized period. John's and George's psychedelic songs are more overt and identifiable as lysergic-oriented.
I like your complex definition of psychedelic music because it broadens the possibilities. Many people think a song has to be overwhelming in strange sound effects to count. Happiness is a Warm Gun surprised me. but the ones I was expecting were probably too obvious. I carefully perused your friend's lists and am completely puzzled how Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood are on it; could it be the odd twists of Some Velvet Morning or something I don't know, though I have the Nancy & Lee album. If you want to see some unimaginably passionate semantic arguments over genre definitions there are some fierce one over what is or isn't a Progressive Rock song.
Interesting topic and scoring process. Not surprising that George and John came out ahead. Just looking at the single Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever and you can see the difference in terms of psychedelia. Thanks for sharing this Matt!
Great episode, Matt. Matt, being a child of the 60s I think I would add one more criterion to your list. Considering that most music of there era was based on cliche 32-bar pop song chord structures, IMO 60s psychodelic music often used eastern musical progressions which were highly repetitive simple chord structures with constantly varying harmonic embellishments. This is actually what I noticed about psychodelic music the most back in the 60s. Maybe the best Beatles example of this approach would also be "Tomorrow Never Knows." BTW, this grandpa ever in search of new great music recommends The Lemon Twigs. If you like 60s vocal music give them a try. -Andy AKA Grandpa
Hello Matt, best wishes for 2024, glad to be a subscriber. Beatles discussion always welcome. Great video: controversial. I could do a completely different list from yours! To paraphrase Brian Wilson, once stoned, they couldn't get unstoned? An element of that perhaps. But also the Beatles and George Martin were just enjoying the studio time and the inventiveness that was coming out, particularly in 1966/7. They weren't being "psychedelic" as such. That said...Strawberry Fields Forever and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds are the real deal, cerebral and beautiful. I am the Walrus... maybe. But IMHO, it's more John going back into his own gift (and the rich tradition) of nonsense and surrealism, as the Alice in Wonderland title suggests. By late 1967, psychedelia was on the wane. I think - from one account that I heard - that someone had told John that his lyrics were being studied and he thought he'd give 'em something to really chew on. That was the genesis of the song, so I understand. Magical Mystery Tour and everything post-1967 was inventiveness pure and simple (again IMHO which may not be yours.) Thanks Matt.
My issue with the "composer stoned" catagory": I care about the effect, not the cause (it's the same finished product regardless). This is why I don't really care if a musician is being "genuine" or "authentic" or any of that. How it comes off is what matters to me. (Also, a composer could get the idea or inspiration for a song while under the influence, but write it sober.)
A good point but this criteria is a major issue when discussing Dylan's work. I spent a couple years researching and creating these criteria so I tried to cover all bases. I talk about the Dylan issue in my original video, What Makes A Song Psychedelic.
This an amusing topic Matt! If you have seen the video for Fool on the Hill, it is obvious that Paul is abut as high as the mountains he is running around on. By 1967 Pot was a staple for the Fabs as you well know. Fixing a Hole is a favourite psych song with a special mention for the harpsichord which had become ubiquitous in psychedelic rock by that point. Wow man...the colours!
That would be cool for sure! We are lucky as Beatles fans however in that our favourite group created numerous promotional videos for their songs. I used to love it when Ed Sullivan showed the latest Beatles video (although they werer`t called videos then). I particularly like the one for Rain which I think is early psychedelic. The Eleanor Rigby segment in the Yellow Submarine movie is a pop art/psychedelic masterpiece.@@popgoesthe60s52
What a cool and fun topic, Matt! More please! And how cool you’re going to have Paul Moews join you- I used to listen to Technicolor Web Of Sound, make lists of songs I liked, and Paul would make me CDs for a small donation. He was really cool that way.
As a retired marketer who designed or reviewed quite a few surveys in my career, I like your scoring system, Matt! Thoughtful and insightful - and, yeah, kinda like hot sauce! 😅 Love your videos!
Thank you, Pete. I scrapped my first go at this video and then decided to actually apply values to my criteria, which can be tedious, but ultimately offers some context.
I think all The Beatles contributed to each others Songs. John was more “Far out” but without the other 3 contributions these songs would not have been so brilliant
Matt...wonderful video...loved the bit about " if your at a live blues show and you're on psychedelic substances, the blue might be psychedelic to you...Peace and Love...Terry and Julia Tutor
George Martin came up with psychedelic touches too, like the animal sounds on 'Good Morning, Good Morning' and the organ snippets mixed in 'Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite'.
Norwegian Wood has psychedelic elements with the sitar and lyrics. "Drinking her wine" really meant they were smoking marijuana, which obviously couldn't be stated explicitly in the lyrics. The whole song has a stoned motif.
Fool On The Hill: I can't be sure about Paul's state of mind in the studio but he is high as a kite in the promo video. It was filmed on a grassy hill in France for the MMT film. There's a part in it where the camera zooms in on McCartney's face and he's 100% stoned out of his mind. If you don't believe me re-watch it and tell me I'm wrong.
For me Rain is an underrated psychedelic masterpiece. Musically and somewhat in the production. Musically I think it completely was successful in it's production. In what world is Rain a B side. In the Beatles world I guess.
Far Out Video Matt with Groovy criterias👍 I remember years ago I made a CD called Psychedelic Beatles and I havent heard in years and after watching your video I was curious to hear my CD again because I didnt remember what the track listing was so here is what I put as my listing of Psychedelic Beatles 1. Strawberry Fields Forever 2. Tomorrow Never Knows 3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 4.Flying 5. Love You To 6.Only A Northern Song 7. Blue Jay Way 8.Within You Without You 9.Its All Too Much 10. The Inner Light 11.Im The Walrus 12. Sgt. Pepper (reprise)/ A Day In The Life 13 Tomorrow Never Knows (Anthology version) - if you notice my track listing there's only one song for Paul which is the Sgt.Pepper reprise and all the other songs are from John and George, but Im going to revamp my CD and use your track listing from your album of The Beatles Drug Songs 👍👌✌️
This topic has come up with my friends before, Paul being less psychedelic seems clear when listening thru albums such as Sgt Pepper, most the John/George songs seem aligned stylistically/tonally in being overtly psychedelic, whereas some of Paul's songs seem to stick out for diverging from that throughline (despite being good songs in their own right) We can view Paul's songs to psychedelic to one degree as another, but if coming to some of these albums as "psychedelic albums", his contributions can come across as jarring in some cases within context I guess that stylistic/tonal variation could serve their albums in listeners ears', it just constitutes a different thing when held in comparison to psych classics like Gandalf/July/etc. which are much more stylistically/tonally aligned throughout
I guess the sequencing of how the songs were written/shared probably plays a part in the argument, I just always found the idea of John/George sharing their Sgt Pepper contributions and then Paul coming back with When I'm Sixty-Four or Lovely Rita sort of funny, can't complain much in the end when it's all good music
I would call many of Paul’s in the middle period of The Beatles as being more psychedelic adjacent than outright psychedelic. They fit the vibe even if not as overt.
I love your scientific formula of measuring how psychedelic a song is. Although its subjective, its also intriguing, thought provoking and quite original. As a lover of the psychedelic period of the Beatles music it wouldn't have bored me if you had gone through their whole 1966/67 back catalogue! 😄 It would be interesting to compare certain bands/songwriters or albums to see which is the most psychedelic using your method. The Sgt. Pepper vs Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn album would be of interest because some of the songs from each album was recorded at the same time in the same studios. Some of John Lennons songs vs a select few of Syd Barretts would also be another interesting comparison. I am not sure who would win that for being the 'most' psychedelic but its all subjective i guess 🤷♂️
This video had me applying the criteria to most of their catalog last night! I may try to get viewers involved to score the songs themselves and we can look at the results.
Very well done. I think the one criterion I'd add would be "intentions." Obviously, it would be a guess without the lads having told us, but for me, it is obvious that lets say, Blue Jay Way, was intended to sound psychedelic. They even made a psychedelic video, of sorts, from the MMTour movie. Of course, this having to be an "in my opinion" criteria, it probably leaves too much room for arguments to start.
Music wise, I Feel Fine primed the pump. Nobody could have come up with that opening. Then Ringo playing the straight man with that Rhumba beat🤣. It's a much harder song than people give credit. George's break followed by Ringo's behind the beat skins attack was genius. I doubt a Pop producer would even allow that today without dragging the line to the click track.
Is Octopus's Garden a psychedelic song? From what I can recall Ringo said he got the idea for the lyrics when he was stoned on a boat in Sardinia while someone told him about how a typical Octopus behaves in the sea. It has some nice effects and great guitar playing from George too.
@@popgoesthe60s52 On a side note, I think that the Vox Continental Organ is the quintessential psychedelic instrument of the 60's. Weirdly enough The Beatles never really utilized this instrument throughout their career.
Matt, you will need to cover The Mothers of Invention psychedelic music. Just wonder, where is It's All Too Much from? What album. Great video. Stay groovy!!
I think that Paul’s contributions to Beatles psychedelia are often easily overlooked. Unlike his bandmates John and George, who were very much keen to present themselves as “tuned in” to the counterculture and engaged in a kind of dialogue with the zeitgeist, Paul remained focused on writing pop music with a focus on tunefulness and accessibility (with a few exceptions, of course). In other words, George and John’s songs often became subservient to a psychedelic message or call to activism, whereas Paul never let the message take supremacy over the melody or cohesion of the song itself. He did not want to alienate any listeners and loathed the idea of appearing preachy (look at post-Beatles John and George vs post-Beatles Paul). Thus, his songs rarely feature the overt trappings of psychedelia that might signal to the Beatles audience that he was hip and “tuned in” with them. But that doesn’t mean the psychedelia isn’t there in many of his songs, it’s often simply more subtle or hidden behind some brass or a cheeky wink. We know that Paul contributed some of the more wild and psychedelic elements to his bandmates songs, for instance, and was largely the “ideas man” behind albums like Sgt. Pepper or Magical Mystery Tour, and was thus able to understand and produce psychedelia and happy to “lean in” to the psychedelia on his bandmates’ songs- he was simply more guarded with his own, for whatever reason. Paul is often viewed as a square; my guess is that he recognized on some level that the activist psychedelic/hippie movement was a fad, or worse yet a distraction, and thus a hindrance to what he did and does best- write pop music. I think this holds true when you look at his career as a whole. Paul was very much aboard the psychedelic train, personally. He clearly “got it”. He simply wanted to keep it out of his work, as it were, whether for business or image-related reasons. Or perhaps simply because he wanted his songs in particular to feel timeless and untethered to a particular aesthetic or movement. That’s a separate discussion.
It is unfair to negate Paul's psychedelic credential because of his 'granny music' reputation. The very high scoring (psychedelic) Beatles songs are rather minimal in total so Paul isn't as out of step as some report.
@@gailg2327 Thank YOU for getting Paul. Growing up, John was my favorite Beatle. Later, after becoming a musician, I began to appreciate George and Ringo's contributions. Now, as a songwriter and band leader-- as well as having taken a more historical approach to the Beatles and really examined each band member's role and contribution-- I've landed on Paul. Again, in many respects his leadership and innovation within the band were hidden behind his public role as "the cute one", a part he was happy to play (even to his own detriment, at times). Despite his catalog of hits and penchant for showmanship, I find that the "real Paul" isn't truly discovered within the music until one dives into the studio notes, scholarly analyses, and personal histories of everyone involved-- ironic, given his outsized role in both the image and catalog of the band. But I get the feeling that by and large Paul doesn't mind playing a sort of dual role within the band-- public, affable hitmaker and private "driver" and innovative workaholic-- and letting John claim the credit as genius and innovator, as long as the songs are and remain "good" (Paul usually speaks up now only when he feels *personally* slighted by historians and biographers). Thanks again, take care.
@@popgoesthe60s52 True! I often have to remind myself just how quickly The Beatles ascended, progressed, and then flew by. The "psychedelic era" in which most of their high-scoring psychedelic songs were produced, was really just a blip in the timeline of their career. I wonder why we, as audience and historians, remain so fixated on the Beatles' psychedelic period that we get into debates like this. Maybe our fascination with the rapid technological and songwriting innovations of that 3-4 year period claims an outsized significance in our collective consciousness; it all still feels important and pertinent today, somehow. Or, more likely, we simply love the songs :) Thanks for providing a space to discuss these things, Matt!
Interesting Matt but surely a no-brainer for John, but where is the magnificent Strawberry Fields Forever, psychedelia personified surely and predating many of these?
You can certainly add this criteria to any song. This was not an exercise to highlight every one of the "most psychedelic" songs by the Beatles, just a comparative demonstration.
wow! matt, this was an awesome topic, spent all saturday afternoon reading the responses and the graph you chose to grade their songs was superb- how did you come up with it? at first i thought pandora's box has been opened and, judging by some of the emails-some didn't get it. two e-mails i enjoyed were " i didn't know math was going to be involved" and the "shag-adelic aspect" that would be a great topic- the shagadelic concept..."us and them" by pink floyd would be a good place to start- i know...it's 70's but a great shag song. thank you for an excellent afternoon and, keep up the controversial content.
My pleasure, Donald. I had the criteria for a long time and I was going to talk about the Facebook discussion and shot my video. But it wasn't very interesting. So decided to reshoot it and make the visual graphs to go along with my commentary. I like to use lots of visuals because I think it holds the viewer's attention and literally puts what I say "into writing", driving the points home a bit more. Thanks for watching and for checking all the comments!
I think the lyrics for songs like Lovely Rita or Blue Jay Way may not be overtly psychedelic, but they can easily be interpreted in a much less mundane way to be seen as something ...deeper. "Please don't be long" could be "please don't belong" etc. "Give us a wink and make me think of you"...
@@popgoesthe60s52 hmmm... it's tricky because the lyrics do seem so mundane on the surface, so it becomes super subjective. For me "Blue Jay Way" is a 3 lyrically, but I realize that may be unreasonable. Lovely Rita is a 2 at best, lyrically, but I could see someone interpreting those lyrics in a really trippy way. Anyway, interesting exercise. I like the criteria you came up with. I think the lyrical prong may be the trickiest just because I think most of the time lyrics are written to be interpreted in many different ways.
@@CBCDs By only having a range of 0-3 in the lyric category, there is no room to go wild in either direction, so I agree that is somewhat subjective - but not super subjective.
I don't see Paul as less psychedelic because all that old-fashioned stuff he did (inspired by Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band which he produced in secret) was drug-influenced. Fool on the Hill is VERY psychedelic. Lovely Rita is very psychedelically produced. It's a song about cheating on his girlfriend LOL not very trippy but the sound is trippy. Anything the Beatles did from 66 until John went on heroin with Yoko was Psych.
It's definitely an interesting approach. In general I agree with the criteria, athough all criteria have some amount of subjectivity. I think it would be interesting if you'd provide some exemplary cases of songs (from any artist) where each criterion or all are maxed-out, just for calibration purposes. This exercise would be a nice testbed for the approach overall. A final remark: the song selection for the exercise in this video. There is also some subjectivity here, for instance George's indian songs are not included and perhaps there are songs that might score higher, e.g., Paul's Eleanor Rigby and Magical Mystery Tour or John's Mr Kite.
Yes, I may devise a survey where everyone can rate songs. I did mention the indian influence in psychedelic music so that point was covered, though I didn't use one of George's Indian songs. You can apply the criteria and see what those songs score.
Excellent episode, your criteria are pretty sound and I'm on board with your results and it shows that John had the most psychedelic songs then George and then Paul. That is what I would have expected, but it's nice to see you clearly spell out why that is. I think with the drug criteria, you should consider if the drug is a psychedelic drug or not Heroin & speed no LSD, Magic Mushrooms & Peyote yes. So I would score Happiness is a warm gun a little lower than you did because of that. That Beatles Drug songs looks like a great compilation I wish apple put that out officially.
@@popgoesthe60s52 But some drugs are called "psychedelic drugs" and that is for a reason. It's like having rating for deserts and including all foods. It was significantly John and George who had the preference for psychedelic drugs and not co-incidentally wrote the more psychedelic songs.
@@keriford54 Well then, try rating deserts on a scale! Quite subjective as well. I will have to put your over arching comment to the test - "It was significantly John and George who had the preference for psychedelic drugs and not co-incidentally wrote the more psychedelic songs." I would wager the songs that score the highest will be the John and George songs. But the song on Ram would score higher than the songs on Imagine. It's interesting when you actually break them down. Hopefully I can put a survey together so everyone can score them. Thanks Keri!
@@popgoesthe60s52 by Imagine psychedelic drugs were no longer John's preference, John's psychedelic songs coincide with his use of psychedelic drugs. I think John's early solo work is almost a rejection of the psychedelic, his most psychedelic record to me is Walls and Bridges, number 9 dream maybe the Mind Games single, I'd be interested to know if he took LSD during his time with May. Soft hearted Hana is a later George psychedelic song, sound wise When we was Fab, George had a cocaine period, but he would sometimes take LSD during his solo period. Paul solo, I'd say his drug of choice was Marijuana, which isn't regarded as psychedelic but it's not anti psychedelic like Heroin and Cocaine.
Hmm. I had a brief power outage, so it looks like the reply that I was working on has disappeared in the cloud. I do appreciate a person who defines his terms, nut your definition of psychedelic songs being druggy is not the definition of psychedelic in the sixties. The word psychedelic was coined in the fifties from the Greek for mind and manifesting. Psychedelic drugs (weed, LSD, mushrooms, psilocybin, etc) affect the takers mind while 'hard' drugs are addictive and are experienced bodily. By the time of 'Happiness Isa a Warm Gun,' Lennon was on heroin which usually makes the taker experience the world through the body, and, from I've read, Lennon wanted to escape his mind for much of that period. Living through the sixties (while on psychedelic drugs a lot of the time), those of us who bought 'psychedelic music' understood psychedelic music to exclude druggy songs like the Velvets' 'I'm Waiting for the Man.' On the other hand, mind expansion leaves the door open for eastern influences and techniques as they often are designed to open the mind. But psychedelic music was seen as a way to sell product, so some of the tropes of psychedelic music was grafted onto commercial music to enhance sales (not enhance minds). So pardon me for being a stickler when it comes to the definition of psychedelic music. You have defined the term in what is probably the correct way in the present. Me? Guess I'm just living in the past, aka the 60s. @@popgoesthe60s52
Hilarious opener lol (glad I am not on FB)! I would agree with others that Lucy is probably the most psychedelic Beatles track...sort of an archetype for the genre?
Another groovy video !!! I was 11 & 12 during the years of " psychedelic " music. One could argue you , that you must be 21 & under when you hear it for the first time in your life and definitely you could never be over 30 !!! You don't trust anyone over 30 !!! Lol. The word psychedelic was all over the place back then , lots of teeny boppers were using it. There were clothes & posters & paints.... All being bought by kids who never even smoked a regular cigarette. Lol.
I have read that some of the lyrics for Happiness Is A Warm Gun were written under the influence of LSD. Still, I would have chosen Strawberry Fields Forever instead. That one is much more psychedelic.
When it comes to any music, I judge heavily on where it takes me in my mind. You can't be more subjective than that, right kids? With 'Bluejay Way', I'm wandering the hills in fog through a grove of trees. Pretty literal I confess. I do get a very different "experience" if I've had a gummie. Also, where was I when listening to the song? I listened to "Mama Told Me Not To Come" by Three Dog Night, in a dimmly lit room with ethnic scarves covering the walls and windows and a heavy smell of incense. My mind walked away from me. Music takes you different places depending on where your head is at. Ultimately, if a piece of music doesn't give me a personal experience of one kind or another, I stop listening to it. If 4 of 5 songs take me somewhere and the 5th doesn't, I lift the needle. Interesting take Matt. I never really thought of this before.
I am lead to believe Sergeant Pepper's was recorded in the next studio at Abbey Road, as Pink Floyd made Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Same time, studio staff and psychedelics.
It's interesting you mentioned Happiness, because I was inspired by your video about a psychedelic Beatles album and I made my own and included that song. But I do think you put too much emphasis on the drug references in the song. I just think that the song's lyrics should be "trippy." For me there are several perfect psychedelic songs by John. Paul's songs are usually a little too bouncy and sweet to sound truly psychedelic, though I would have a higher score for Fixing a Hole. Lyrically and production wise, it's pretty darn trippy.
Lyrically, Lennon is certainly more obviously psychedelic. On the records, however, regardless of whose song it is, McCartney was responsible for bringing in a lot of the innovative sonic qualities we'd call 'trippy' now. Without him, Strawberry Fields Forever would have just been on an acoustic guitar.
Although I don't care for psyodelic music that much some of the Beatles music that falls under that category I think are their best songs. "It's All Too Much," Was always a good song underappreciated by maybe Paul or John or maybe both.
Thank you, Bruce. In the two years since I did my video _What Makes A Song Psychedelic_ , I have not had one person be able of offer any additional criteria or discredit the 7 I've curated. The criteria is broad enough that it essentially covers the field. The level of subjectiveness is therefore minimal. I seem to be coming to a consensus on the criteria, so that is step one. I plan to offer public surveys so I get your and other viewers scores on specific Beatles songs so we can look at the data from a wide cross section of Beatle fans. Stay tuned!
Thanks for your response. As an (old) musician, and an anthropologist, I appreciate application of the scientific method of testing hypothesis. I also fully cop to being subjective about musical assessment and terminology. I don't mean to be negative in my comment on subjectiveness; I am the worst when it comes to discussion of pop music history. As you have indicated, the psychedelic "ourve" is inherently difficult to define. I was applauding you for your effort to find a common understanding of just what "pysch" means and how to have a common understanding and reasonable discussion. I look forward to your future videos and hope I can participate in a productive way.
The most psychedllic Paul, perhaps (I could be forgetting something), is the execution of his idea for how the orechestra climbs up to his section of "Day In The Life."
George hits the mark early on with I Want To Tell You from Revolver. I read an interview where George talked about drugs while writing It's All Too Much. Also think that Baby You're A Rich Man is very much a track that fits in with the summer of love.
I want to tell you... Paul in an interview said it was best song on Revolver. And it was really Paul's album... but Paul was right... best George song up to that point, and my fave off the album
Psychedelic music is pretty broad area to explore. Matt's criteria define it well though. Psychedelic music can be drug induced or just simply expanded awareness and spiritual consciousness. In my humble opinion, Lennon wins easily with "Daytripper" "Rain" "Tomorrow Never Knows", "She Said, She Said", "And Your Bird Can Sing", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "A Day in the Life", "Lucy in the Sky", "I am the Walrus", and "Across the Universe." "Mind Games" and "#9 Dream" are pretty trippy too.
...and of course "I'm Only Sleeping"!
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" has always been my most definitive Beatles psychedelic song. Thanks for yet another entertaining presentation Matt - also great to hear that Paul's original iconic Hofner Bass has been confirmed found!
FIXING A HOLE BEING A HEROIN NEEDLE? WHUT? I quote from Wikipedia: Some fans assumed the song was about heroin due to the drug slang "fixing a hole,"[6] but McCartney later said that the song was an "ode to pot".[7] In his 1997 biography Many Years from Now, McCartney stated that "mending was my meaning. Wanting to be free enough to let my mind wander, let myself be artistic, let myself not sneer at avant-garde things."[6]
Paul blamed everything on pot.
I always interpreted the song being about death and the need to always have something to fill the hole within yourself, that he’s trying to stop his kind form wandering to negative thinking and the bad aspects of life but that’s just what I always felt.
In the first real Beatles biography by Hunter Davies In 1968 Paul talks about real issues that inspired his Song: fixing a hole in a leaky roof😅
I think of many of Paul’s songs in this period as being more ‘psychedelic adjacent’ than outright psychedelic. His songs still fit the overall vibe but are just not as overt much of the time. And he does contribute a lot of creative psychedelic touches to many songs by John and George. He seemed more confident adding cool druggy elements to some of his bandmate’s songs than to his own.
What’s notable to me is that while Paul’s songs are fairly light on psychedelia, he contributed a lot of of psychedelic elements to the other Beatles’ tunes (tape loops, guitar solos, etc.).
Yep. He supplied the tape loops for "Tomorrow never knows"
He’s also largely credited with conceiving the overall concepts/themes for Sgt. Pepper’s and Magical Mystery Tour, arguably their two most psychedelic albums. Despite being less into the psychedelic counter-culture than his bandmates, Paul seemed to “get it” and enjoyed setting up John and George for some real psychedelic flourishes. Same with George Martin.
He was into Stockhausen and other serious, experimental composers.
The mellotron intro to Strawberry Fields and the celeste intro to Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds both very psychedelic.
@@austinwilkerson84 It's funny because Paul went to check out San Francisco first and thought the culture and consciousness were pretty cool. George went later that year and hated it and got off drugs.
As a kid in the 70s my introduction to the Beatles was when I borrowed my older sister’s copy of Sgt Pepper and played it to death. I’m pretty sure the lads didn’t have nine year old children in mind when making that album, but I was enthralled with the sounds and lyrical imagery. For my next birthday (10th) my parents got me Magical Mystery Tour which is equally if not more trippy than Sgt Pepper. So I’ve always had a sentimental soft spot for the Beatles’ psychedelic period because it takes me back to my childhood.
In my personal opinion, the Sgt. Pepper album has never been equaled or surpassed. It's the aural definition of what a masterpiece 'work of art' is and forever will be. It 'broke the mold,' kind of like Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon changed the so-called 'art world' forever.
I recall the episode where you introduced the criteria, but this episode was an unexpected delight! Thanks!
We agree to disagree on Lovely Rita, “when are you free to take some tea with me?”
Paul was under the influence of tea when he wrote that
@@samp.8099 there is some evidence that biscuits were involved as well
@@buddyneher9359I heard scones were involved. You could say Paul was sconed.
@@Mr_Rob_otto haha! "He's not dead, but he's a very naughty boy" 🙃
As always, Matt, you are reasoned, intensely specific, and analytical, as one should be in discussing any topic. You define, and you explain. Perfect, Matt.
Thank you, Antonio - more to come on this topic!
On the Anton scale of disliking a video, he scored this one a 17. 🤣
It was Anton Newcombe. He loves the Beatles, he just woke up and chose violence, which is understandable if you’re familiar with his work
@@johnthemachinel love the Brianjonestown Massacre! I'd be interested in hearing Matt's opinion on them
The book Riding High (recommended by Matt!) gives a good insight to Beatles drug exploration. Lennon and Harrison did the most acid and incorporated acid into their writing. Paul was hesitant and never really explored acid deeply. All of them were heavy into weed; pretty much all the time after Dylan introduced them. Only Lennon got into heroin (after Sgt. Pepper) but he never injected. Psychedelic music is mostly associated with acid and mushrooms- and weed. Opiates were not seen to be trip inducing.
Riding So High: The Beatles and Drugs by Joe Goodden..... is a great read.
Wonderful discussion.
Thank you, Darrell!
to me all Beatles music from 1965 onwards feels psychadelic. Even their early solo music from 1970 and 1971 still has traces of that surreal magic realism vibe that hypnotizes me. I loved number 9 when I heard it for the first time in 1994 when I was 21 years old. I was also in 60s Hitchcock movies and shows like the avengers with Steed and Emma Peel and the first Star Trek show at that time so number 9 was exactly what I was looking for in art. Only later I started to appreciate music for its purely musical qualities like melody, riffs or harmony. But at that time it was all about the surreal atmopsphere.
I think the fact that Paul produced tape loops for Tomorrow Never Knows shows how switched on psychedelically he was.
For me, their psychedelic period fall strictly in their middle era, including Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine. With the White Album, they switch gears entirely and start mining the more rootsey direction pioneered by the Band and Music From Big Pink. The top examples for me are Rain, Strawberry Fields, I am the Walrus, Tomorrow Never Knows, Northern Song, It's All too Much and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. George's sitar excursions and John's more dreamy offerings like Day in a Life also qualify.
There are still remnants of psych on The White Album, although it's a different kind of psychedelia than what they had explored in 66-67. "Dear Prudence", "Glass Onion", "Helter Skelter", "Revolution 1", "Cry Baby Cry", and "Revolution 9" are all trippy to some degree, and some of the outtakes like take 20 of "Revolution 1" and "What's The New Mary Jane" are some of the most far-out recordings they ever made.
I always thought that the "...take some tea with me?" line in "Lovely Rita" was a reference to smoking pot.
Good point.
It’s arguable that every McCartney song from that period is under the influence of marijuana and/or LSD.
If the song had been written by Dirk McQuickly, it would have been tea .... with biscuits.
Lennon/McCartney absolutely loved the double entendre and came up with them serendipitously in their lyrics writing and delightfully kept them in.
Fool on the Hill is said to be about the Maharishi, so it is meditative and a bit psychedelic.
Yes, he seemed to think that the lyrics had nothing to do with expanded consciousness but that was *precisely* the subject matter of the song--the wise, enlightened man who looks like a fool to everyone else. Maybe the lyrics move beyond drugs, but it's certainly about expanded consciousness in general.
@@hanspecans Prabhupada turned out to be a lot more of a sexist, homophobic asshole than the Maharishi! The Maharishi got a little weird toward the end of his life, but his TM technique has helped millions. People call him a "fool" without actually presenting any evidence for that fact. If you're going to call him that, at least provide an example.
@@hanspecans Interesting...you are literally one of the people calling the wise man a fool in the song! And don't even realize it. Prabhupada, btw, turned out to be quite sexist and homophobic. Something the Maharishi doesn't have on his record.
‘Only a Northern song’ is a psychedelic song that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves, should have been on pepper.
By the late sixties, "psychedelic" had become highly commercial. A lot of tunes were what I call "faux-psychedelic". A great example is "Just Dropped in to see what Condition my condition was in" which seems totally calculated and contrived to evoke psychedelia - the lyrics even reference Eight Miles High! Brilliantly used by the fearless Coen Brothers in The Big Lebowski.
"Psychedelic" production became a style - even a fad.
Absolutely right. The mainstream "absorbed" all of the trappings of the hippie movement and cashed in. I knew that the wheels had come off the bus when my dad bought a suit with bell bottom pants. Bad trip.@@popgoesthe60s52
@@popgoesthe60s52 And I sucked it up in buckets. Many pop artists gave it a whirl - Del Shannon, The 4 Seasons, Spanky and Our Gang, The Ventures...
I recently watched the Beatles cartoon where "Tomorrow Never Knows" is featured. This was a Saturday morning cartoon back in the day for kids! The cartoon has the Beatles falling down a hole into some kind of ancient culture. I found Matt's video very interesting. I would like to see Matt apply this to other major bands of the 1960s to find the most psychedelic song in their discographies. A couple of examples come to mind, "King Midas in Reverse" by the Hollies and "Armenia City in the Sky" by the Who. Both of those would make the high range - maybe.
I may do that or I may devise a survey my viewers can take to help gather data.
A Day in the Life! The Beatles Ultimate Masterpiece!!
So I guess Strawberry Fields Forever is way too obvious to be included? LOL. Interesting video, Matt, thanks! 🙂
This was an exercise to demonstrate how the criteria works when weighted values are applied, so there was no need to show too many of the obvious tracks. I'd like to create a survey so everyone can rank them, which I think would be fun.
"Tomorrow Never Knows" vs. "Within Without You"...which is more psychedelic? I'm sure "Within Without You" is about George's embrace of Eastern mysticism and not drugs, but the sound, to me anyway, is psychedelic. I really like your criteria and agree with it. I got a kick out of "non-psychedlic bands" that would throw in some dreamy sounds to fit the genre back in the late '60's & early '70's. Because I liked The Buckinghams- (definitely not a psychedelic band) I wondered why there was a break of backwards tape used in their hit "Susan" and read that the producer just didn't know what else to use. I really enjoyed the psychedelic era of music as a teenager. Good stuff & appreciate the work you did on this one, Matt. Interesting.
Yes, "psychedelic" music became a fad of sorts. Susan is a good example of that.
Lyrically Nowhere Man is very psychedelic and it found a place on my Psychedelia playlist of over 100 Psychedelia songs.
Nice video.
Folks like music, not everyone can wax poetic or philosophical. We love music.
Love this channel. Matt, you explain things very well for many of us. Thank you and continued success to your channel.
Taxman always reminds me of Steppenwolf - Sookie Sookie. my Paul favorite is Hello Goodbye which to me has that poppy Psyche sound like Cowsills - Flower Girl tune. Ringos drum pattern on Tomorrow Never Knows was Big influence for Ian Paice drumming on The Mule which he just added to what Ringo played. Only A Northern Song, Within You Without You etc and many others would qualify on your chart. Tx Matt
I appreciate the comments Poole!
Love this Matt, def one of your best!I sometimes attempted similar systemisation in the Music History course I ran, though not with numerical values.If I get the chance to teach it again I will use this system and credit you of course! It also works for judging the psychedelicness in genres other than 60's Rock/pop too.
Yes, these criteria can but used in any era. Thanks Shadow!
About as good of a way to try and assess this as I could ever think of and I am in agreement with the findings. I know you were just dying to hear that so you could feel good finally about all the effort. LOL! Great stuff...always great stuff, Matt!
Hey Bill! Some people are "shocked" by some of the results, which just exposes the bias they bring to the discussion. Thank you for the compliment, but I wouldn't say that its perfect. I may tweak it a bit for more clarity.
Really enjoyed this on Matt. Cheers.
Thank you, Martin. I will be rating more Beatles psych in the coming weeks so stay tuned!
I don't understand using John's "Happiness is a Warm Gun" rather than "Strawberry Fields Forever "
I think he could also have used 'I want you (she's so heavy).
Fair point. From the standpoint of methodology (speaking as a retired marketer), it's often helpful to have a few outliers as reference points in a survey, and that's how I'd describe "Happiness" in this instance. Definitely points, though, to the opportunity for Matt to do another vid or two on this with other Beatles songs.
The reason I chose _Happiness_ or _Taxman_ was to show how the criteria works when weighted values are applied. This was not an exercise to demonstrate "what the most psychedelic Beatles songs are." You can apply the criteria to any number of songs yourself, if you'd like.
Agreed, Happiness is a song about Junk, not Acid. Psychedelic has nothing to do with smack, despite its prevalence. Speed, that's another story, but that's a different genre, too.
Nice video once again. May this wonderful discussion flow on within you and without you. Om shanti, dude.
There's this guy whose name escapes me-- he compiled a ton of compilation albums on psychedelia which I downloaded before he got his with copyright issues. He started off feeling that the Beatles were mainstream versions of "real" psychedelia but when compiling the albums and looking at the timeline, he says he discovered that actually, John Lennon invented "Intellectual Psychedelia." He had felt like John was aping Syd or whomever, but the Beatles created a lot of what others followed in the path of in terms of psychedelia even though they were such a commercial band. I was a kid back then, and all Saturday Morning cartoons went psychedelic when the Beatles did, and they stayed that way after the Beatles went onto other things.
I once read somewhere that John & Paul admired how Bob Dylan's poetic lyrics could affect the human psyche and in their own work took this to a more druggie level combined with music that went beyond folk motif structures.
“Its all too much” is hardcore psychedelia
One of my all-time favorite tracks.
OK, "You Know My Name, Look Up the Number." ...annnnnd goooo 🤣
Hi Matt, always felt "Baby, You're A Rich Man" was a psychedelic song due to the trippy sound. It was the first Beatles song recorded and mixed for release outside of Abbey Road. Six hours total is all it took, amazing! The Beatles could work fast when they wanted to. Cheers!
I would add the "Fairytale Landscape Imagery" criterion, which came to its apotheosis with guys like Syd Barrett. Excellent job, Matt!
The outro of Lovely Rita is the best part of the whole album
Yes, people often overlook the psychedelic aspects of the end of the song, which is wonderfully done.
Great video. The Beatles psychedelic period is my favorite from them. Your system of ranking how psychedelic a song is quite interesting. I hope you make more videos like this. Im wondering how you would rank Elvis’ ‘Edge of Reality’ as a psychedelic song.
magical mystery tour would bring Paul's score up.
I would rank 'Penny Lane' as one of Paul's most psychedelic songs. Although whimsical, it does contain stream of consciousness imagery. Paul is a very sentimental person and this is illustrated in this song. He also depicted Northern English Brass Band music in his psychedelic songs which is also a nostalgic element and a throwback to an earlier idealized period. John's and George's psychedelic songs are more overt and identifiable as lysergic-oriented.
Very good analysis -- entirely agree.
I like your complex definition of psychedelic music because it broadens the possibilities. Many people think a song has to be overwhelming in strange sound effects to count. Happiness is a Warm Gun surprised me. but the ones I was expecting were probably too obvious. I carefully perused your friend's lists and am completely puzzled how Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood are on it; could it be the odd twists of Some Velvet Morning or something I don't know, though I have the Nancy & Lee album. If you want to see some unimaginably passionate semantic arguments over genre definitions there are some fierce one over what is or isn't a Progressive Rock song.
You guessed correctly about Some Velvet Morning. I steer clear of the prog snob slobs.
Interesting topic and scoring process. Not surprising that George and John came out ahead. Just looking at the single Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever and you can see the difference in terms of psychedelia. Thanks for sharing this Matt!
Great episode, Matt.
Matt, being a child of the 60s I think I would add one more criterion to your list. Considering that most music of there era was based on cliche 32-bar pop song chord structures, IMO 60s psychodelic music often used eastern musical progressions which were highly repetitive simple chord structures with constantly varying harmonic embellishments. This is actually what I noticed about psychodelic music the most back in the 60s. Maybe the best Beatles example of this approach would also be "Tomorrow Never Knows."
BTW, this grandpa ever in search of new great music recommends The Lemon Twigs. If you like 60s vocal music give them a try.
-Andy AKA Grandpa
Hello Matt, best wishes for 2024, glad to be a subscriber. Beatles discussion always welcome. Great video: controversial. I could do a completely different list from yours!
To paraphrase Brian Wilson, once stoned, they couldn't get unstoned? An element of that perhaps. But also the Beatles and George Martin were just enjoying the studio time and the inventiveness that was coming out, particularly in 1966/7. They weren't being "psychedelic" as such.
That said...Strawberry Fields Forever and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds are the real deal, cerebral and beautiful.
I am the Walrus... maybe. But IMHO, it's more John going back into his own gift (and the rich tradition) of nonsense and surrealism, as the Alice in Wonderland title suggests. By late 1967, psychedelia was on the wane. I think - from one account that I heard - that someone had told John that his lyrics were being studied and he thought he'd give 'em something to really chew on.
That was the genesis of the song, so I understand. Magical Mystery Tour and everything post-1967 was inventiveness pure and simple (again IMHO which may not be yours.) Thanks Matt.
I appreciate the comments, Tony! Thank you.
My issue with the "composer stoned" catagory": I care about the effect, not the cause (it's the same finished product regardless). This is why I don't really care if a musician is being "genuine" or "authentic" or any of that. How it comes off is what matters to me. (Also, a composer could get the idea or inspiration for a song while under the influence, but write it sober.)
A good point but this criteria is a major issue when discussing Dylan's work. I spent a couple years researching and creating these criteria so I tried to cover all bases. I talk about the Dylan issue in my original video, What Makes A Song Psychedelic.
Interesting breakdown of what makes a song psychedelic . Id love to hear your breakdown of the songs on Sgt. Pepper . Take care Matt !
This an amusing topic Matt!
If you have seen the video for Fool on the Hill, it is obvious that Paul is abut as high as the mountains he is running around on. By 1967 Pot was a staple for the Fabs as you well know. Fixing a Hole is a favourite psych song with a special mention for the harpsichord which had become ubiquitous in psychedelic rock by that point. Wow man...the colours!
One criteria that is not apart of this study is anything connected to the visual. I wish we had a video for every song!
That would be cool for sure!
We are lucky as Beatles fans however in that our favourite group created numerous promotional videos for their songs.
I used to love it when Ed Sullivan showed the latest Beatles video (although they werer`t called videos then). I particularly like the one for Rain which I think is early psychedelic. The Eleanor Rigby segment in the Yellow Submarine movie is a pop art/psychedelic masterpiece.@@popgoesthe60s52
What a cool and fun topic, Matt! More please! And how cool you’re going to have Paul Moews join you- I used to listen to Technicolor Web Of Sound, make lists of songs I liked, and Paul would make me CDs for a small donation. He was really cool that way.
Really! Paul and I have been friends for decades. Small world! Thanks for letting me know Jilly.
As a retired marketer who designed or reviewed quite a few surveys in my career, I like your scoring system, Matt! Thoughtful and insightful - and, yeah, kinda like hot sauce! 😅 Love your videos!
Thank you, Pete. I scrapped my first go at this video and then decided to actually apply values to my criteria, which can be tedious, but ultimately offers some context.
“Can’t define it, but I know it when I hear it!”
I think all The Beatles contributed to each others Songs. John was more “Far out” but without the other 3 contributions these songs would not have been so brilliant
Matt...wonderful video...loved the bit about " if your at a live blues show and you're on psychedelic substances, the blue might be psychedelic to you...Peace and Love...Terry and Julia Tutor
George Martin came up with psychedelic touches too, like the animal sounds on 'Good Morning, Good Morning' and the organ snippets mixed in 'Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite'.
Always love these PGT6 rankings videos. Particularly, as I generally agree with the judgements.
Norwegian Wood has psychedelic elements with the sitar and lyrics. "Drinking her wine" really meant they were smoking marijuana, which obviously couldn't be stated explicitly in the lyrics. The whole song has a stoned motif.
the wood, isn't it good
Wrong.
It was just drinking wine.
Fool On The Hill: I can't be sure about Paul's state of mind in the studio but he is high as a kite in the promo video. It was filmed on a grassy hill in France for the MMT film. There's a part in it where the camera zooms in on McCartney's face and he's 100% stoned out of his mind. If you don't believe me re-watch it and tell me I'm wrong.
Absolutely fantastic have a good weekend also happy long weekend ❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊😊
As the first Beatles song I ever heard, “Lovely Rita” will always be a favorite
Lucy in The Sky With Diamonds - imagery is off the charts
For me Rain is an underrated psychedelic masterpiece. Musically and somewhat in the production. Musically I think it completely was successful in it's production. In what world is Rain a B side. In the Beatles world I guess.
May have been one of the first in the genre!
Arguably the finest 'B' side ever. (I'm sure there are plenty of others I haven't thought of though 😊)
Far Out Video Matt with Groovy criterias👍 I remember years ago I made a CD called Psychedelic Beatles and I havent heard in years and after watching your video I was curious to hear my CD again because I didnt remember what the track listing was so here is what I put as my listing of Psychedelic Beatles 1. Strawberry Fields Forever 2. Tomorrow Never Knows 3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 4.Flying 5. Love You To 6.Only A Northern Song 7. Blue Jay Way 8.Within You Without You 9.Its All Too Much 10. The Inner Light 11.Im The Walrus 12. Sgt. Pepper (reprise)/ A Day In The Life 13 Tomorrow Never Knows (Anthology version) - if you notice my track listing there's only one song for Paul which is the Sgt.Pepper reprise and all the other songs are from John and George, but Im going to revamp my CD and use your track listing from your album of The Beatles Drug Songs 👍👌✌️
Your comp is very good!
Riding So High: The Beatles and Drugs by Joe Goodden..... is a great read.
I listen to "Paperback Writer" at about 23 and then "Rain" at 25 and I'm at pre-flashback or at least entrancement mode.
Taking Paul’s moaning out of the end of Lovely Rita, I finally can hear what John says, thanks for doing that! “Better believe it!”
I've always believed the first psychedelic song I ever heard was 'The Word' off Rubber Soul. And one of the best ever!
This topic has come up with my friends before, Paul being less psychedelic seems clear when listening thru albums such as Sgt Pepper, most the John/George songs seem aligned stylistically/tonally in being overtly psychedelic, whereas some of Paul's songs seem to stick out for diverging from that throughline (despite being good songs in their own right)
We can view Paul's songs to psychedelic to one degree as another, but if coming to some of these albums as "psychedelic albums", his contributions can come across as jarring in some cases within context
I guess that stylistic/tonal variation could serve their albums in listeners ears', it just constitutes a different thing when held in comparison to psych classics like Gandalf/July/etc. which are much more stylistically/tonally aligned throughout
I guess the sequencing of how the songs were written/shared probably plays a part in the argument, I just always found the idea of John/George sharing their Sgt Pepper contributions and then Paul coming back with When I'm Sixty-Four or Lovely Rita sort of funny, can't complain much in the end when it's all good music
Yes, Paul's songs do take a less direct psych route. But if you compare songs on Ram vs songs on Imagine, the opposite is true.
I would call many of Paul’s in the middle period of The Beatles as being more psychedelic adjacent than outright psychedelic. They fit the vibe even if not as overt.
I love your scientific formula of measuring how psychedelic a song is. Although its subjective, its also intriguing, thought provoking and quite original.
As a lover of the psychedelic period of the Beatles music it wouldn't have bored me if you had gone through their whole 1966/67 back catalogue! 😄
It would be interesting to compare certain bands/songwriters or albums to see which is the most psychedelic using your method.
The Sgt. Pepper vs Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn album would be of interest because some of the songs from each album was recorded at the same time in the same studios.
Some of John Lennons songs vs a select few of Syd Barretts would also be another interesting comparison. I am not sure who would win that for being the 'most' psychedelic but its all subjective i guess 🤷♂️
This video had me applying the criteria to most of their catalog last night! I may try to get viewers involved to score the songs themselves and we can look at the results.
Very well done. I think the one criterion I'd add would be "intentions." Obviously, it would be a guess without the lads having told us, but for me, it is obvious that lets say, Blue Jay Way, was intended to sound psychedelic. They even made a psychedelic video, of sorts, from the MMTour movie. Of course, this having to be an "in my opinion" criteria, it probably leaves too much room for arguments to start.
Paul brought in elements of psychedelia first, but John had the most psychedelic songs
For me I'm Only Sleeping is pretty psychedelic...it sets a great mood without being altered.
I listened to this music straight until I was 18 anyway.
Music wise, I Feel Fine primed the pump. Nobody could have come up with that opening. Then Ringo playing the straight man with that Rhumba beat🤣. It's a much harder song than people give credit. George's break followed by Ringo's behind the beat skins attack was genius. I doubt a Pop producer would even allow that today without dragging the line to the click track.
I totally agree with you re: I feel Fine. Thanks Jim!
Is Octopus's Garden a psychedelic song? From what I can recall Ringo said he got the idea for the lyrics when he was stoned on a boat in Sardinia while someone told him about how a typical Octopus behaves in the sea. It has some nice effects and great guitar playing from George too.
I would score some points but most likely it would be on the low end.
@@popgoesthe60s52 On a side note, I think that the Vox Continental Organ is the quintessential psychedelic instrument of the 60's. Weirdly enough The Beatles never really utilized this instrument throughout their career.
Matt, you will need to cover The Mothers of Invention psychedelic music. Just wonder, where is It's All Too Much from? What album. Great video. Stay groovy!!
It's All Too Much is from Yellow Submarine Soundtrack.
I think that Paul’s contributions to Beatles psychedelia are often easily overlooked. Unlike his bandmates John and George, who were very much keen to present themselves as “tuned in” to the counterculture and engaged in a kind of dialogue with the zeitgeist, Paul remained focused on writing pop music with a focus on tunefulness and accessibility (with a few exceptions, of course). In other words, George and John’s songs often became subservient to a psychedelic message or call to activism, whereas Paul never let the message take supremacy over the melody or cohesion of the song itself. He did not want to alienate any listeners and loathed the idea of appearing preachy (look at post-Beatles John and George vs post-Beatles Paul). Thus, his songs rarely feature the overt trappings of psychedelia that might signal to the Beatles audience that he was hip and “tuned in” with them. But that doesn’t mean the psychedelia isn’t there in many of his songs, it’s often simply more subtle or hidden behind some brass or a cheeky wink. We know that Paul contributed some of the more wild and psychedelic elements to his bandmates songs, for instance, and was largely the “ideas man” behind albums like Sgt. Pepper or Magical Mystery Tour, and was thus able to understand and produce psychedelia and happy to “lean in” to the psychedelia on his bandmates’ songs- he was simply more guarded with his own, for whatever reason. Paul is often viewed as a square; my guess is that he recognized on some level that the activist psychedelic/hippie movement was a fad, or worse yet a distraction, and thus a hindrance to what he did and does best- write pop music. I think this holds true when you look at his career as a whole. Paul was very much aboard the psychedelic train, personally. He clearly “got it”. He simply wanted to keep it out of his work, as it were, whether for business or image-related reasons. Or perhaps simply because he wanted his songs in particular to feel timeless and untethered to a particular aesthetic or movement. That’s a separate discussion.
It is unfair to negate Paul's psychedelic credential because of his 'granny music' reputation. The very high scoring (psychedelic) Beatles songs are rather minimal in total so Paul isn't as out of step as some report.
Thank you for getting Paul.
@@gailg2327 Thank YOU for getting Paul. Growing up, John was my favorite Beatle. Later, after becoming a musician, I began to appreciate George and Ringo's contributions. Now, as a songwriter and band leader-- as well as having taken a more historical approach to the Beatles and really examined each band member's role and contribution-- I've landed on Paul. Again, in many respects his leadership and innovation within the band were hidden behind his public role as "the cute one", a part he was happy to play (even to his own detriment, at times). Despite his catalog of hits and penchant for showmanship, I find that the "real Paul" isn't truly discovered within the music until one dives into the studio notes, scholarly analyses, and personal histories of everyone involved-- ironic, given his outsized role in both the image and catalog of the band. But I get the feeling that by and large Paul doesn't mind playing a sort of dual role within the band-- public, affable hitmaker and private "driver" and innovative workaholic-- and letting John claim the credit as genius and innovator, as long as the songs are and remain "good" (Paul usually speaks up now only when he feels *personally* slighted by historians and biographers). Thanks again, take care.
@@popgoesthe60s52 True! I often have to remind myself just how quickly The Beatles ascended, progressed, and then flew by. The "psychedelic era" in which most of their high-scoring psychedelic songs were produced, was really just a blip in the timeline of their career. I wonder why we, as audience and historians, remain so fixated on the Beatles' psychedelic period that we get into debates like this. Maybe our fascination with the rapid technological and songwriting innovations of that 3-4 year period claims an outsized significance in our collective consciousness; it all still feels important and pertinent today, somehow. Or, more likely, we simply love the songs :) Thanks for providing a space to discuss these things, Matt!
Agreed! Thank you so much & so good to hear. Take care too.@@austinwilkerson84
Blue Jay Way uses the Lydian mode, which helps to give its 'sound'.
John wins this one going away with Lucy in the Sky, Strawberry Fields, Walrus, Rain, Tomorrow Never Knows, She Said, I'm Only Sleeping, etc.
Interesting Matt but surely a no-brainer for John, but where is the magnificent Strawberry Fields Forever, psychedelia personified surely and predating many of these?
You can certainly add this criteria to any song. This was not an exercise to highlight every one of the "most psychedelic" songs by the Beatles, just a comparative demonstration.
Brilliant.
Another approach would be to use a 5-point Likert scale for all item scores & then weight the item scores.
What would Ken Kesey think?
wow! matt, this was an awesome topic, spent all saturday afternoon reading the responses and the graph you chose to grade their songs was superb- how did you come up with it? at first i thought pandora's box has been opened and, judging by some of the emails-some didn't get it. two e-mails i enjoyed were " i didn't know math was going to be involved" and the "shag-adelic aspect" that would be a great topic- the shagadelic concept..."us and them" by pink floyd would be a good place to start- i know...it's 70's but a great shag song. thank you for an excellent afternoon and, keep up the controversial content.
My pleasure, Donald. I had the criteria for a long time and I was going to talk about the Facebook discussion and shot my video. But it wasn't very interesting. So decided to reshoot it and make the visual graphs to go along with my commentary. I like to use lots of visuals because I think it holds the viewer's attention and literally puts what I say "into writing", driving the points home a bit more. Thanks for watching and for checking all the comments!
I think the lyrics for songs like Lovely Rita or Blue Jay Way may not be overtly psychedelic, but they can easily be interpreted in a much less mundane way to be seen as something ...deeper. "Please don't be long" could be "please don't belong" etc. "Give us a wink and make me think of you"...
Correct. Where would you score each of those songs on a scale from 0-3?
@@popgoesthe60s52 hmmm... it's tricky because the lyrics do seem so mundane on the surface, so it becomes super subjective. For me "Blue Jay Way" is a 3 lyrically, but I realize that may be unreasonable. Lovely Rita is a 2 at best, lyrically, but I could see someone interpreting those lyrics in a really trippy way. Anyway, interesting exercise. I like the criteria you came up with. I think the lyrical prong may be the trickiest just because I think most of the time lyrics are written to be interpreted in many different ways.
@@CBCDs By only having a range of 0-3 in the lyric category, there is no room to go wild in either direction, so I agree that is somewhat subjective - but not super subjective.
I’d give the “don’t belong” (don’t be long” ) on Blue Jay Way 1 point in underground themes
I don't see Paul as less psychedelic because all that old-fashioned stuff he did (inspired by Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band which he produced in secret) was drug-influenced. Fool on the Hill is VERY psychedelic. Lovely Rita is very psychedelically produced. It's a song about cheating on his girlfriend LOL not very trippy but the sound is trippy. Anything the Beatles did from 66 until John went on heroin with Yoko was Psych.
Agreed about Paul's contributions. People tend to negate his psychedelic contributions because of the 'granny music' label he acquired.
Choosing Tomorrow Never Knows is a bit unfair, because nothing can compare to that!
It's definitely an interesting approach. In general I agree with the criteria, athough all criteria have some amount of subjectivity. I think it would be interesting if you'd provide some exemplary cases of songs (from any artist) where each criterion or all are maxed-out, just for calibration purposes. This exercise would be a nice testbed for the approach overall. A final remark: the song selection for the exercise in this video. There is also some subjectivity here, for instance George's indian songs are not included and perhaps there are songs that might score higher, e.g., Paul's Eleanor Rigby and Magical Mystery Tour or John's Mr Kite.
Yes, I may devise a survey where everyone can rate songs. I did mention the indian influence in psychedelic music so that point was covered, though I didn't use one of George's Indian songs. You can apply the criteria and see what those songs score.
Excellent episode, your criteria are pretty sound and I'm on board with your results and it shows that John had the most psychedelic songs then George and then Paul. That is what I would have expected, but it's nice to see you clearly spell out why that is. I think with the drug criteria, you should consider if the drug is a psychedelic drug or not Heroin & speed no LSD, Magic Mushrooms & Peyote yes. So I would score Happiness is a warm gun a little lower than you did because of that. That Beatles Drug songs looks like a great compilation I wish apple put that out officially.
I stayed away from "rating" drugs based on their effects because they are so different and subjective from person to person.
@@popgoesthe60s52 But some drugs are called "psychedelic drugs" and that is for a reason. It's like having rating for deserts and including all foods. It was significantly John and George who had the preference for psychedelic drugs and not co-incidentally wrote the more psychedelic songs.
@@keriford54 Well then, try rating deserts on a scale! Quite subjective as well. I will have to put your over arching comment to the test - "It was significantly John and George who had the preference for psychedelic drugs and not co-incidentally wrote the more psychedelic songs." I would wager the songs that score the highest will be the John and George songs. But the song on Ram would score higher than the songs on Imagine. It's interesting when you actually break them down. Hopefully I can put a survey together so everyone can score them. Thanks Keri!
@@popgoesthe60s52 by Imagine psychedelic drugs were no longer John's preference, John's psychedelic songs coincide with his use of psychedelic drugs. I think John's early solo work is almost a rejection of the psychedelic, his most psychedelic record to me is Walls and Bridges, number 9 dream maybe the Mind Games single, I'd be interested to know if he took LSD during his time with May. Soft hearted Hana is a later George psychedelic song, sound wise When we was Fab, George had a cocaine period, but he would sometimes take LSD during his solo period. Paul solo, I'd say his drug of choice was Marijuana, which isn't regarded as psychedelic but it's not anti psychedelic like Heroin and Cocaine.
Hmm. I had a brief power outage, so it looks like the reply that I was working on has disappeared in the cloud. I do appreciate a person who defines his terms, nut your definition of psychedelic songs being druggy is not the definition of psychedelic in the sixties. The word psychedelic was coined in the fifties from the Greek for mind and manifesting. Psychedelic drugs (weed, LSD, mushrooms, psilocybin, etc) affect the takers mind while 'hard' drugs are addictive and are experienced bodily. By the time of 'Happiness Isa a Warm Gun,' Lennon was on heroin which usually makes the taker experience the world through the body, and, from I've read, Lennon wanted to escape his mind for much of that period. Living through the sixties (while on psychedelic drugs a lot of the time), those of us who bought 'psychedelic music' understood psychedelic music to exclude druggy songs like the Velvets' 'I'm Waiting for the Man.' On the other hand, mind expansion leaves the door open for eastern influences and techniques as they often are designed to open the mind. But psychedelic music was seen as a way to sell product, so some of the tropes of psychedelic music was grafted onto commercial music to enhance sales (not enhance minds).
So pardon me for being a stickler when it comes to the definition of psychedelic music. You have defined the term in what is probably the correct way in the present. Me? Guess I'm just living in the past, aka the 60s.
@@popgoesthe60s52
Hilarious opener lol (glad I am not on FB)! I would agree with others that Lucy is probably the most psychedelic Beatles track...sort of an archetype for the genre?
Sad to not see What a Shame, Mary Jane? didn’t make the cut, but I enjoyed the video greatly!
Even their 'joke' songs were great!
Another groovy video !!!
I was 11 & 12 during the years of " psychedelic " music. One could argue you , that you must be 21 & under when you hear it for the first time in your life and definitely you could never be over 30 !!!
You don't trust anyone over 30 !!! Lol.
The word psychedelic was all over the place back then , lots of teeny boppers were using it. There were clothes & posters & paints.... All being bought by kids who never even smoked a regular cigarette. Lol.
I have read that some of the lyrics for Happiness Is A Warm Gun were written under the influence of LSD. Still, I would have chosen Strawberry Fields Forever instead. That one is much more psychedelic.
Any thoughts on doing something in regards to the now past 50th anniversary of Ringo! ?
When it comes to any music, I judge heavily on where it takes me in my mind. You can't be more subjective than that, right kids? With 'Bluejay Way', I'm wandering the hills in fog through a grove of trees. Pretty literal I confess. I do get a very different "experience" if I've had a gummie. Also, where was I when listening to the song? I listened to "Mama Told Me Not To Come" by Three Dog Night, in a dimmly lit room with ethnic scarves covering the walls and windows and a heavy smell of incense. My mind walked away from me. Music takes you different places depending on where your head is at. Ultimately, if a piece of music doesn't give me a personal experience of one kind or another, I stop listening to it. If 4 of 5 songs take me somewhere and the 5th doesn't, I lift the needle. Interesting take Matt. I never really thought of this before.
Thanks for weighing in, Jacky!
Mellotron deserves its own place in the list of instruments.
Yes, that would be included in that criteria
I am lead to believe Sergeant Pepper's was recorded in the next studio at Abbey Road, as Pink Floyd made Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Same time, studio staff and psychedelics.
i agree with your ratings,great job
Happiness is a warm gun, Only Sleeping, Good Morning.
It's interesting you mentioned Happiness, because I was inspired by your video about a psychedelic Beatles album and I made my own and included that song. But I do think you put too much emphasis on the drug references in the song. I just think that the song's lyrics should be "trippy." For me there are several perfect psychedelic songs by John. Paul's songs are usually a little too bouncy and sweet to sound truly psychedelic, though I would have a higher score for Fixing a Hole. Lyrically and production wise, it's pretty darn trippy.
Lyrically, Lennon is certainly more obviously psychedelic. On the records, however, regardless of whose song it is, McCartney was responsible for bringing in a lot of the innovative sonic qualities we'd call 'trippy' now. Without him, Strawberry Fields Forever would have just been on an acoustic guitar.
Although I don't care for psyodelic music that much some of the Beatles music that falls under that category I think are their best songs. "It's All Too Much," Was always a good song underappreciated by maybe Paul or John or maybe both.
Although subjective, I do applaud your use of statistical method in trying to rate the individual Beatles.
Thank you, Bruce. In the two years since I did my video _What Makes A Song Psychedelic_ , I have not had one person be able of offer any additional criteria or discredit the 7 I've curated. The criteria is broad enough that it essentially covers the field. The level of subjectiveness is therefore minimal. I seem to be coming to a consensus on the criteria, so that is step one. I plan to offer public surveys so I get your and other viewers scores on specific Beatles songs so we can look at the data from a wide cross section of Beatle fans. Stay tuned!
Thanks for your response. As an (old) musician, and an anthropologist, I appreciate application of the scientific method of testing hypothesis. I also fully cop to being subjective about musical assessment and terminology. I don't mean to be negative in my comment on subjectiveness; I am the worst when it comes to discussion of pop music history. As you have indicated, the psychedelic "ourve" is inherently difficult to define. I was applauding you for your effort to find a common understanding of just what "pysch" means and how to have a common understanding and reasonable discussion. I look forward to your future videos and hope I can participate in a productive way.